Remember, doubleclick enlarges. Any ideas what you’re looking at? Notice parallel “vertebrae” center left and right; right side is submerged below the “barrel,” and left side four white tips emerge from sunken “structure.” Just in case your life doesn’t have enough puzzles, I’m injecting this one.

I love easy puzzles as respite from the daily complications of life. So . . this is easy with “bayou plaquemine” on the port side bow of a wreck. Here’s what Matt (?) wrote six years ago on Opacity:

” This ship was originally built by DeFoe Shipbuilding, Bay City, MI in 1921 for the U.S. Army and comissioned as the steel-hulled Junior Mine Planter (JMP) MAJOR ALBERT G. JENKINS. The vessel and crew were assigned to the Fourth Serivce Command during World War II and homeported at Fort Barrancas, Pensacola, FL . She was decomissioned in 1951 and sold to the Oil Transport Company, New Orleans, LA. Renamed BAYOU PLAQUEMINE [Coast Guard registery 261281], she was rebuilt as a tug. In September 1966 she was sold to the Nickerson Marine Towing Company of Tampa, FL, retaining her name. McAllister Brothers, Inc. of New York, NY purchased the vessel in June 1968, renaming her COURIER. She was scrapped in 1972.”

Puzzle solved . . . . well here comes the fun: why mine planter and not mine layer . . . who was Major Albert G. Jenkins . . . are there any fotos of COURIER in her McAllister colors between 1968 and 1972 . . . and does anyone know anyone who crewed her?

Text . . . almost as illegible as hieroglyphics . . . frustrates, but this is

“Michigan.” Here’s a quote from a tugster post last year: “Jeff identified it as “canal tanker Michigan. Built by McDougal Duluth S B in 1921 as Interwaterways Line Incorporated 105, shortened to ILI-105 in 1935 before becoming Michigan. She carried caustic soda, vegetable oil , liquid sugar and such on the Erie and Welland canals. Twin screw.” For the record, Day-Peckinpaughwas ILI-101–the prototype–built in the same year. Thanks much, Jeff. See an image of ILI-105 in her prime here.” For now, Michigan carries a load of living trees, scale, and memories; I’m guessing she went out of service before I was born . . uh . . . 1952. Seriously, anyone know when she retired? I’d say Michigan –by design and intention– slightly senior relative of Kristin Poling . . . 1934.

I hope this isn’t cheating to copy and paste, but I am reiterating info from last year and the questions it generated: ” YOG-64 was delivered to the US Navy in May 1945, arrived in the Pacific just after the end of the “9th inning,” served in various capacities at Bikini Atoll during Operation Sandstone, judged decontaminated and decommissioned, spent two decades hauling fuel as M/T Francis Reinauer, and has rested here since the mid-1980′s. Anyone know of a foto of Francis Reinauer?”

For me, this is new territory. Can you make out the text?

It’s PC-1217, one of two WW2 submarine chasers in slow-motion decay within the waters that make up the sixth boro. PC-1217 was built in Stamford, CT and first deployed out of Tompkinsville, Staten Island. Can anyone identify the tug to the right?

In PC-1217‘s five-year career with the Navy, it underwent one major rebuild in Jacksonville, FL after taking a beating in a “great hurricane.” Before 1953, it seems hurricanes were just referred to as great. So to get back to the “vertebrae” in the topmost foto, they are the tops of the twin HOR engines that once moved this vessel at 19 or so knots through Atlantic seas.

As for that other puzzle . . . John Watson, frequent contributor to this blog, has traced Blue Marlin to its current location: notice it moored along the great Mississippi downstream a few miles from New Orleans. I’ve no clue what’s loading down there, but if someone wants to arrange a “business gallivant” for me, I’d already packed.

All fotos today by Will Van Dorp, who feels empowered to tackle bigger puzzles after solving these. More soon. Many thanks to Ed, James, and Gary for their help.

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12 comments

Blue Marlin shows at Lower 9-mile Anchorage. Across the way is the Violet docks, where there are two MSC ready-reserve ships moored. For the past couple of weeks there is an old-ish drill ship there as well, Shughart.

The tanker MICHIGAN was still running in the early and up to the mid 60’s. I saw her many times transiting up and down the Hudson River past my hometown of Milton. I went in the Coast Guard in 1966, and was discharged in 1970. Even being stationed in the New York area, I didn’t see her anymore. My guess would be that she was finally laid up around 1964-65.

harold–thanks for that info. i’ve been wondering how long MICHIGAN has been retired. i wish you and everyone had taken more fotos of traffic like MICHIGAN on the hudson back in the day. i wish i’d been taking fotos of coal ships on lake ontario in the 1960s . . .

Back in the Spanish American War till after WW I mines were planted because their anchor had to be set the way anchors are today, they used conventional anchors, not mushroom like are used today. That’s probably what happened to Britanic the water she was in was too deep for a planted mine, the one she hit was probably drifted free of a planted field.

The first puzzel appears to be the Stack flew and the stack of a steamship and the piston and mechanism just below the water in the left foreground look like part of the low pressure cylinder of a triple expansion engine. Its not unusual for the tops of the engine and associated parts of early metal ships of early flush deck ships to break through the deck, especially if the back is broken or distorted.

I have dove the USS Delphy at Honda Point in the seventies while stationed at Dago both of her low speed engines were broken through that way.

YOG’s were self propelled gasoline barges. YO’s were self propelled yard Oilers- NSFO (Navy Special Fuel Oil). There were also YW’s self propelled water barges and YG’s self propelled garbage scows. I served in the USS Haleakala (AE-25), an ammunition ship, during the Vietnam War. As an AE we rarely tied up to piers due to the nature of her cargo, so we received fuel, water and garbage services from these yard craft. Interestingly at Subic bay in the Phillipines the YO’s and YW’s were commanded by Chief Boatswain’s Mates but the YG’s captain was Second Class Boatswain’s Mate.
As an aside, just before we headed back to San Fran at the end of second trip to West Pac a YW tore off our port side boat boom.

The Major Albert Jenkins, I have pictures from the 1920’s and 30s. My grandfather was her Captian out of Fort Barrancus. Does anyone have any good pictures of her prior to her being re-fitted in the 50’s? The Jenkins towed gunnery targets in the Gulf of Mexico during the late 30’s early 40’s as well.